THE MEMORIAL LIBRARY/ THE OLGA LENGYEL INSTITUTE
PARTICIPANTS AND FACULTY AT THE 2015 MEMORIAL LIBRARY SUMMER SEMINAR IN NEW YORK CITY.
2015
Dr. Sondra Perl Director, The Holocaust Educators Network
Dr. Jennifer Lemberg Associate Director, The Holocaust Educators Network
The Memorial Library/ The Olga Lengyel Institute
Contents Overview
I. Introduction
II. 2015 Memorial Library Summer Seminar on Holocaust Education
III. Satellite Seminars
IV. Mini-Grant Program
V. Professional Development/Conferences
VI. Assessment Survey
VII. International Programs
VIII. Words of Appreciation
IX. Appendices: 2015 Seminars Agendas and Participants
Page 1 Final Report 2015 I. Introduction
The Memorial Library and the Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust and Human Rights provide professional development opportunities for educators across the United States and Europe. Our focus is on using the lessons of the Holocaust to shed light on current issues of social injustice. Our long-term goal is to work with teachers across the globe so that they can advance a classroom agenda that teaches students about the Holocaust while also empowering them to step up and speak out on behalf of human rights. In this report, we begin with our flagship program, the Memorial Library Summer Seminar in New York City, and then report on our outreach programs in the United States which include our satellite seminars, mini-grant project, and workshops at professional conferences. Following our programs is an overview of a large-scale assessment study conducted by an independent research firm to evaluate the effectiveness of our work in the United States. The assessment survey was distributed to all teachers who attended our programs since their inception in 2006 and have become members of our professional development community, the Holocaust Educators Network. We conclude with a description of our support for and development of outreach efforts in Europe, notably in Romania and Bulgaria, where we have begun to work intensively with teachers and administrators in both countries. II. 2015 Memorial Library Summer Seminar on Holocaust Education
The Holocaust Educators Network (HEN), a division of the Memorial Library, has its start each summer at the Memorial Library Summer Seminar. It is here, at the offices of the Memorial Library at 58 E. 79th Street in Manhattan, that we hold a 12-day seminar for twenty-five middle school, high school, and college teachers from across the United States. In the seminar we use writing and dialogue to reflect on the challenges of teaching the Holocaust and other genocides, and to create plans for bringing what the participants have learned back to their schools and communities. The group of teachers we convened in the summer of 2015 represented a wide variety of schools and backgrounds—some were teacher- consultants from the National Writing Project, others were teacher-leaders from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, additional participants came to us via the Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Teachers Program, the ADL Bearing Witness Program, and the Shoah Foundation Visual History Project. Two educators from Hungary also joined us as part of a US State Department program. To prepare, participants were asked to join the Memorial Library’s website, where they engaged in online conversations beginning approximately six weeks before the seminar. Online forums included a space for participants to introduce themselves to build community in advance of their meeting in person, and others where they could discuss Olga Lengyel’s Five Chimneys and HEN Director Dr. Sondra Perl’s On Austrian Soil and begin the shared process of dialogue and learning. Dr. Perl opened the seminar with an overview of the themes that would guide our shared inquiry, focusing on identity, Holocaust history and testimony, approaches to designing curricula, inquiry methods, and professional stance, including the following: Examining Identity
Who are we? How are our identities formed? What texts, images and artifacts do we choose to represent ourselves? What is the relationship between our personal and professional identities?
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Studying the Holocaust
Listening to Survivor Testimony Gaining Perspectives on Judaism: History, Culture, Rituals & Practices Accessing History through Conversations with Scholars and Artifacts Working on Curriculum
Responding critically and generously to classroom approaches Considering the relationship of Holocaust education to social justice in the world today Creating and taking next steps: Networking among ourselves, working with our students, and bringing this work to our communities Effecting change: Memorial Library mini-grants & ongoing collaboration with HEN and other partner organizations.
Understanding Pedagogy
We start with ourselves and then move into the world based on the premise that teaching and learning are both personal and social engagements. We write -- composing stories, poems and personal reflections — exploring the way writing anchors us in a shaky world and gives voice to what often remains inchoate or unsaid. Ultimately, the seminar is an inquiry that will grow from our shared reading, writing, responding, and reflecting.
In teaching the seminar, Perl was joined by HEN’s Associate Director, Dr. Jennifer Lemberg. Alice Braziller, Micha Franke and Oana Popescu Sandu served as important members of our teaching team. Ildiko Kope provided essential back-up and office support and Doua Abulafia was our summer intern. The program included: Holocaust survivor testimony by Irving Roth; a lecture entitled “How Was It Possible?” by noted historian Peter Hayes at the Museum of Jewish Heritage; a lecture on the concentration camp system by Dachau educator Micha Franke; a workshop on culturally sensitive pedagogy by Professor Miriam Ezzani; workshops by three former Memorial Library participants, Michelle Clark, Corey Harbaugh, and Diane Williams focusing on Holocaust education across the US and action projects for the classroom focusing on social justice; a premier of a new documentary, The Sharps’ War, about two Americans who rescued Jews during the Holocaust, introduced by the filmmaker (their grandson), Artemis Joukowsky; a workshop on responding to the film by Facing History and Ourselves NYC leader, Kevin Feinberg;
Page 3 Final Report 2015 a discussion about the history of Judaism with Rabbi Deborah Hirsch followed by a Shabbat service at Temple Shaaray Tefila and then a Shabbat meal back at the Memorial Library; a klezmer performance, and a ten-year anniversary celebration with invited guests from NYC and California.
Throughout twelve days (June 20 to July 1, 2015), the seminar aimed to make connections between the historical legacy of the Holocaust and present-day instances of social injustice. We requested that the teachers send lesson plans in advance so that, as in prior years, their work could be easily distributed and used in the curriculum groups, where teachers demonstrated their best practices for learning about history, processing student responses to atrocity, and building connections to current issues in creative and innovative ways. This year we also created both print curriculum booklets and flash drives filled with all the materials distributed and referred to in the seminar in order to make disseminating the materials to participants’ home institutions easier.
In its tenth year, the goals of the seminar built upon its original purpose while also seeking to improve upon the previous summer. Our aims were as follows:
. To teach teachers about the Holocaust, focusing on history, testimony, and contemporary theoretical concepts; . To help teachers create new methods for engaging students with hard issues by using ‘writing-to- learn’ practices and other interactive teaching strategies; . To introduce teachers to and involve them in the use of new media for studying the Holocaust; . To develop pedagogical techniques for addressing the range of responses that comes into play when teaching the Holocaust, and for directing the energy generated by those responses toward addressing contemporary conflicts; . To build teachers’ cultural knowledge of Judaism in order to enhance their ability to teach about the Holocaust; . To connect our work with the Holocaust and other genocides to issues of social justice today; and . To encourage and support teachers in the creation of action projects in their schools and communities.
Participants came from schools in fifteen different states and two from abroad: Alabama, Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin and Hungary. A list of participants’ names and schools are attached. Please see Appendix A. All were awarded $350 and a certificate marking 75 hours of completed professional development for their participation in the seminar. Other Highlights from the Summer Seminar Each day of the seminar began and ended with the opportunity to reflect, in writing or through other shared activities, on issues, questions, and troubling or traumatic content that arose during the course of the seminar. As mentioned above, we listened to testimony from Holocaust survivor Irving Roth who bore witness to his experience of Auschwitz and Buchenwald and also spoke about the importance of
Page 4 The Memorial Library/ The Olga Lengyel Institute Holocaust memory and its implications for the future. Additional weekend and evening activities and field trips provided the opportunity for our participants to grasp more fully the ethnic diversity that characterizes New York City and to take in the myriad cultural events that make New York unique. The Memorial Library provided an elegant venue for these events while serving as a comfortable home base. Once again, “identity boxes” created by the teachers at the beginning of the seminar provided rich visual reminders of the unique personal histories that each of us brings to our study of the Holocaust. The Memorial Library and TOLI also sponsor Satellite Seminars led by seminar participants who have returned to New York for further training. In 2015, summer seminars were held in 11 other states. A more complete description of these seminars follows below. Please see Appendix B for a complete Calendar of Activities. Plans are currently underway for the 2016 Summer Seminar as well as a Leadership Institute offered to potential future Satellite Seminar leaders. Selected Comments from participants in the 2015 Memorial Library Summer Seminar in New York: “It would be impossible to find one word or even a few sentences that would embody my experience. I am grateful for feeling valued. I am humbled to have learned alongside such wonderful professionals. I am driven to become a different teacher and empower my students. Now more than ever I have greater clarity about why it is so important to teach the Holocaust.” – Michelle Sorise, Great Neck South High School “The particular strength of this seminar lies in its community- building. As a teacher, I know how hard it is to build community in a classroom of students from the same area of the same “THIS PROGRAM MET MY age. You managed to take a group of different ages, from NEEDS AS A TEACHER AND A disparate backgrounds, or different faiths and philosophies, HUMAN BEING ON THE and turn us into a FOREVER FAMILY… My writing group really increased the confidence of this closet poet. My life has been LEVELS OF MORALITY, forever changed by this seminar and I can barely contain my PHILOSOPHY, AND love and gratitude. I feel honored, fortunate, and HUMANITY… THANK YOU, rejuvenated.” – Sally Ingram, Saint Bernadette School THANK YOU FOR PUTTING “I know that I am a changed teacher after this. I felt so TOGETHER SUCH AN confused before I came about why this work compels me so AMAZING PROGRAM THAT much, and unable to articulate it. Now, I know to say that the lens of the Holocaust is that through which I can most HONORS TEACHERS AND effectively teach my students about being human. In addition to THEIR VOICES WITH SUCH that, I am taking away the message that without using humanity SKILL AND DEDICATION.” to teach about these inhumanities, my work will fall flat. When being presented with atrocities and the dark side of human – JEFFREY PARKER, nature, students need especially to feel nurtured, valued, and supported. This is a change I need to make, and incorporating NORMAN HOWARD writing more casually and formally is a first step. Thank you so SCHOOL, ROCHESTER, NY much for doing this work, bringing us here, and celebrating us as professionals and peers. It has been wonderful.” – Kate Molony, Central Catholic High School
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IV. Satellite Seminars
In June and July of 2015, the Memorial Library and TOLI supported 11 Satellite Seminars across the United States. What follows are brief descriptions of each. Final evaluations and in-depth reports on each satellite are available on file at the Memorial Library.
California Satellite Seminar: Crossing Lines: Tools for Teaching Tough Topics Elk Grove, California- June 22 to 26, 2015 Led by Pam Bodnar and Gail Desler History unfolds one story at a time. From the strawberry fields of historic Florin, California, emerged the untold stories of the Mien and Hmong. Encouraged by a Holocaust survivor and a former Japanese- American internee, refugees from the “Secret War in Laos” rolled back their sleeves, opened their hearts, and brought history to life. Through the lens of survivors, participants gained an understanding and appreciation of the common threads connecting the exclusion and forced removal of any group of people. During our 2015 Crossing Lines seminar, teachers explored the difference a single person can make by choosing to cross the line from bystander to upstander. Through the strategies, resources and tools shared over the course of the week, teachers left feeling empowered to create “safe spaces” in the classroom. Speakers:
. Steve Ly, Board Member, Elk Grove USD, Welcome . “Rescuers, Perpetrators & Bystanders.” Sam Edelman, Director, The Center for Excellence on the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, Human Rights, and Tolerance . Marielle Tsukamoto, Florin Japanese American Citizens League, on resilience . Chiem-Seng Yaangh, Ph.D, “Journey from Laos” . Joe Liow and Kaying Thao-Yang on Mien Culture and Art . Bernie Marks, Holocaust survivor . Hannie Voyles, Holocaust survivor and author, on stories of survival and resilience . Dr. Lorie Hammond, professor emeritus at CSU Sacramento in Teacher Education, cross-cultural education activities
Selected comments from California seminar participants:
“It was packed & I learned so much. The atmosphere is intellectual AND passionate. I’m thrilled to spend time with like-minded people.” “A wonderful mix of listening, watching, writing, creating & talking. Websites, guest speakers, essay contest, crosswords – too much to say, I have amazing notes.” “Hearing the story of a Holocaust survivor in person is an incredible experience – I feel honored and humbled. I really benefitted from the additional information on the Secret War. I plan to use Time of Remembrance (website) and TED Talks in my classroom.”
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Participants in the Crossing Lines seminar in Elk Grove, California.
“I am taking away many great topics to use in my classroom. I am excited about creating a better culture/community in my classroom.” “I come away with a far deeper understanding of the Mien and Hmong cultures, as well as renewed appreciation for the important job we, as teachers, have in empowering our students with knowledge of other people. It is only through knowledge and the courage to stand up for what is right that lasting change can be made.” Kentucky Holocaust and Social Justice Seminar: Social Justice Centered Classrooms: A Thinking and Writing Retreat General Butler State Resort Park, Carrollton, Kentucky - June 24 to 28, 2015 Led by Stephanie Smith and Casi Owens Conducted with the support of the Memorial Library and the Kentucky Writing Project State Network, our seminar focuses on developing social justice-centered classrooms using lessons from the Holocaust, other genocides, and contemporary social justice issues. Participants interact with esteemed guests including a local Holocaust survivor and experts in Holocaust studies and the Rwandan genocide. We offer opportunities for participants to deepen knowledge of historical and contemporary human rights issues and how to teach about them; to consider the importance of primary source testimony; to learn more about Judaism and its traditions to contextualize understanding of the Holocaust; and to make connections between the lessons of the Holocaust and current social justice issues. It is our goal for teachers to leave with pedagogically sound methods and materials to further inquiry and to build lessons, units, or programs that meet classroom, district, and community needs.
Speakers and Highlights:
. Katie Rupp, Intermediate Elementary Instructional Demo . Alexis Storch, Echoes and Reflections
Page 7 Final Report 2015 . Werner Coppel, Holocaust Survivor . Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp . Gatsinzi Basaninyenzi, Alabama A&M University, on the Genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda . Brad Shoopman on creating digital stories
Selected comments from Kentucky seminar participants:
“I plan on using ‘Why Knowing about the Holocaust Matters’ as my second module beginning fall 2015 at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. We will spend a week and a half in and out of class reading and discussing key aspects that I will choose from Echoes and Reflections and The World Must Know. Students will then spend a week writing and editing papers on “Why Knowing about the Holocaust Matters.” I also direct a summer writing camp in Winchester, Kentucky, for children in 3rd through 10th grade. I plan on using Hanna’s Suitcase (a resource introduced to me by Alexis Storch) as one of our primary text resources. This will occur the last week of July 2015. Thank you again for your generosity. My teaching life will never be the same.”
“Although I teach Elie Wiesel’s memoir in my classroom, what I have learned this week is helping me to transform my classroom into one where we “do the Night unit,” to one where I am choosing many of the texts. . . to get my students thinking about prejudice, hate, oppression, and genocide. And not just to teach it to teach it because I have a feeling of some sort of social obligation, or to shock my students, but to show them the other side of it and how they do not have to be in the mire of negativity, but cling to the hope and the stories of the people who fight hate, for those are the stories that they need to hear. Teenagers often feel like they are alone in CHAPLAIN ALLI COHEN PROVIDES INFORMATION ABOUT THE TORAH AT the world and that nothing ever feels good, TEMPLE SHOLOM DURING THE HOLOCAUST AND SOCIAL JUSTICE but by giving them stories of people with SEMINAR IN KENTUCKY. real struggles other than their own and stories of people who fight back and resist and bring hope to the hopeless, I want my students to see that they have a voice that they can use. And that words have the capability of helping or hurting, so if we have the choice (which we always do), we should always do good because our choices define who we are and affect more people than just ourselves.”
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Maryland Holocaust Educators Network Summer Seminar: The Holocaust, Human Rights, and the Role of Education Salisbury University, Salisbury, Maryland – July 19-24, 2015 Led by Dr. Diana Wagner and Dr. Sandy Pope “The Holocaust, Human Rights, and the Role of Education” gathers middle school through university-level teachers from across the region to study the Holocaust and genocide in a context of local issues of civil rights and social justice. Together, we witness, study, and collaborate to invigorate our teaching. Teachers from all disciplines, middle school-university level, are accepted through a competitive application process, and may represent public, private, and charter schools throughout the mid-Atlantic region. The seminar is free, and participating teachers receive all books and materials, workshops and seminars, field trip transportation, evening events, and most breakfasts and lunches. Extremely low-cost housing options are available on the Salisbury University campus.
Speakers and Highlights:
. Rabbi Arnold Bienstock, Welcome and Introduction to Jewish History and Practice during visit to Temple Beth Israel, Salisbury . Dr. Maarten Pereboom, author of History and Film: Moving Pictures and the Study of the Past, screening of “Night and Fog” and discussion of Holocaust film . Laura Lane, former U.S. Embassy official in Rwanda during the genocide, on rescue and resilience . Anna Gross, Holocaust survivor, visit during day spent at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum . Deborah Batiste, training in Echoes & Reflections curriculum . Shabbat service at Temple Beth Israel . Skype chat with Carl Wilkens, author of I’m Not Leaving and the last American to remain in Rwanda during the genocide . Screening of “The Ghosts of Rwanda"
Selected comments from Maryland seminar participants:
“It was great getting to meet colleagues from other school districts and to work with people from around the world. The opportunity to meet Laura Lane and Skype with Carl Wilkens was an amazing experience that few people will ever have.”
“The best experience I had was meeting a wonderful group of educators who are committed and passionate about reaching others through education. I also feel that I have gained a better understanding of the material and how to better approach this topic in my own classroom.”
“I really enjoyed all the classes. The USHMM was the best experience.”
“Loved the range of topics (music, Rwanda), great guests, professors had a wide range of information and did a lot of prep work to create a great experience!”
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New England Holocaust Educators Network Satellite Seminar University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts - July 27 to August 1, 2015 Led by Cara Crandall and Paula Mercier Conducted with support from the Western Massachusetts Writing Project, this seminar brings teachers from across New England together to deepen their practice on the teaching of Holocaust and genocide as well as social justice issues. Using an inquiry process, participants explore past and recent genocides through a multi-disciplinary approach. In addition, the seminar employs writing as both a reflective practice and as a study of literary and non-fiction texts, written and film, to understand how stories are used to resist, remember, and reflect on these events. This reflection and analysis will leads to an examination of questions about morality, ethics, and social justice. The local focus includes scholars and authors who have also used writing to explore and understand atrocities, their causes and impacts. This work enables teachers to return to their classrooms and schools with curriculum materials and ways of working with such issues to help their students develop their own critical thinking skills, deepen their writing, and understand themselves as agents who can affect the world around them.
Hanna Perlstein Marcus, author of Sidonia’s Thread: The Secrets of a Mother and Daughter Sewing a New Life in America, with participants and faculty in the seminar in New England.
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Speakers and Highlights:
. Dr. Anna Ornstein, Holocaust survivor and author of My Mother’s Eyes: Holocaust Memories of a Young Girl . Dr. Dawn Skorczewski, Brandeis University, on Pedagogical Implications for Teaching about the Holocaust and Using the Shoah Foundation Archives . Micha Franke on contemporary understandings of the concentration camp system . Linda Christensen (via Skype), Director, Oregon Writing Project and author of Teaching for Joy and Justice: Re-Imagining the Language Arts Classroom . Field trip to the Yiddish Book Archives and visit with Hanna Perlstein Marcus, author of Sidonia’s Thread: The Secrets of a Mother and Daughter Sewing a New Life in America . Tour of the Institute for Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies, University of Massachusetts . Rabbi Benjamin Weiner, Jewish Community of Amherst, on Contemporary Jewish Life and the Legacy of the Holocaust . Shabbat service at the Jewish Center of Amherst
Selected comments from New England seminar participants:
“What is my feedback!? AMAZING – that is my feedback – though I don’t know if that even comes close to how fantastic it was. Meeting all of these educators, survivors, “THIS EXPERIENCE WAS witnesses, professors, authors, and other teaching INSPIRATIONAL. IT MADE ME professionals has been life changing. I never thought that I PROUD TO BE PART OF SUCH A would have the chance to be connected with this plethora of extremely knowledgeable people, but now that I have, I DEDICATED AND CARING GROUP cannot wait to keep in touch and continue to learn from OF PEOPLE.” A PARTICIPANT IN them. In particular, Dr. Anna Ornstein, Hanna Marcus, THE NEW ENGLAND SEMINAR IN Micha, and Rabbi Weiner were the presenters that I felt impacted by the most. Micha’s presentation about Dachau, MASSACHUSETTS the system of concentration camps, the rise of the SS, and the use of graphic images really provided me with a great deal of information I did not know before, and a perspective I have never had the opportunity to hear before either, so that was wonderful.”
“Great class! Tight community! Everyone seemed to enjoy one another.”
“I loved it!!! Absolutely loved it. I can’t thank you enough – I feel like I really learned a lot, and am happy to have met other educators passionate about the field of Holocaust curriculum development. I look forward to future contact.”
“I thought that his seminar was fabulous! The required readings, presenters, facilitators and on-site visits were excellent.”
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Michigan Satellite Seminar: Studying, Learning, and Teaching the Holocaust Holocaust Memorial Center-Zekelman Family Campus, Farmington Hills, Michigan - July 13 to 18, 2015 Led by Corey Harbaugh and John Farris Located at the Holocaust Memorial Center-Zekelman Campus in Farmington Hills, this seminar offers an inquiry into the best and proven practices for teaching the Holocaust. Participants experience the seminar simultaneously as students and also as successful teachers of the Holocaust, and discover meaningful ways to take back what they learn in our week together to their classrooms across Michigan. The program offers expert presenters on Holocaust-related topics and Jewish history and integrates the resources of a world-class Holocaust museum. Presenters included a historian of Nazi Germany and more than one Holocaust survivor. Participants also have time to explore the rich resources and research facility of the Holocaust Memorial Center in order to deepen their personal and professional inquiry into teaching. In addition to bringing the strengths of the Memorial Library’s training program, the seminar blends the philosophies, and pedagogies of esteemed organizations including The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The National Writing Project, Facing History and Ourselves, and Echoes and Reflections.
Speakers and Highlights:
. Welcome from Stephen Goldman, Director, Holocaust Memorial Center . Dr. Jeffrey Haus, Director of Jewish Studies Program, Kalamazoo College, on The Jews of pre- Holocaust Europe . Introduction to Judaism and Jewish Spiritual Life at Temple Beth El . Survivor Testimony from Paula Marks Bolton . Dr. Randall Bytwerk, Calvin College, on Julius Streicher, Der Sturmer, and Nazi Propaganda . Rob Hadley, USC-Shoah Foundation: IWitness, Testimony, and the History of Holocaust Education . Training in Echoes and Reflections . Shabbat service at Temple Beth El
Selected comments from Michigan seminar participants:
“We know that as teachers we teach who we are rather than merely what the facts are. Building my own background knowledge and understanding and continuing to learn myself helps me take lessons and emotions I have experienced myself from far above the second grade level of my own class and then use these to build developmentally appropriate background understandings and emotions that will make my students more ready for the perspectives, sensitive feelings, and critical thinking that will be required when they are ready for the Holocaust units my middle and high school colleagues will share later.”
“It was quite simply the best seminar I have attended.”
“…the seminar was outstanding. I especially liked the opportunity to work with like-minded professional teachers. Thank you to Corey and John and the Holocaust Center and the survivors and everyone who worked to offer this Holocaust Seminar. You did an outstanding job of providing resources but at the same time making things even more complicated with even more essential questions both for ourselves as teachers and for ourselves as humans.”
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HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR PAULA MARKS BOLTON WITH PARTICIPANTS AND FACULTY IN FARMINGTON HILLS, MICHIGAN.
“I thought this was an excellent seminar and am going to recommend it to my ELA friend in our school. Both Corey and John were excellent facilitators and organized, and like great teachers do they adjusted the schedule to fit the needs of the group. I am extremely glad I attended and happy after so many years of study/teaching this class that I have excellent resources and more people in my network to collaborate with.”
“The enthusiasm and passion that both Corey and John exhibit for both teaching and the Holocaust are valuable assets to this program. I learned a great amount of information and am extremely glad that I had the opportunity to participate.”
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Montana Satellite Seminar: Worlds Apart But Not Strangers: Holocaust Education and Indian Education for All University of Montana and Har Shalom Synagogue, Missoula, Montana - July 19 to 25, 2015 Led by Marcia Beaumont, Brenda Johnston, and Wendy Warren Worlds Apart but Not Strangers: Holocaust Education and Indian Education for All is designed for individuals or teams who currently teach or are interested in teaching about the Holocaust and Indian Education for All (a Montana mandate), and would like to discover ways to make connections between these topics. The institute focuses on past history, including the Holocaust and the impact of U.S. policies on Native peoples of our nation. Highlights include guest speakers and presenters from Missoula’s Jewish Community and Native peoples from Montana. Our lens then turns to the present, as we consider the roles (perpetrator, ally, and bystander) people choose in their daily interactions with each other as well as the stereotypes and prejudice affecting our schools and our communities today. We ask participants to imagine the world they’d like to see and design an action plan to help their classroom, school, and community move closer toward that goal.
Speakers and Highlights:
. Presentation on using Echoes and Reflections Curriculum . Panel on Yiddish Culture with members of Har Shalom Synagogue . Visit to the Flathead Reservation and Kerr Dam with talk by Kamiah Dumontier . Session with leaders from the Missoula chapter of the National Coalition Building Institute . Presentation by Kevin Kickingwoman (Blackfeet), University of Montana, on Blackfeet song . Presentation by Jennifer Stadum, Office of Public Instruction, Indian Education for All
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PARTICIPANTS IN THE WORLDS APART BUT NOT STRANGERS SEMINAR IN MISSOULA, MONTANA VIEW THE TORAH WITH KATE SOUKONNIKOV AT HAR SHALOM SYNAGOGUE.
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Selected comments from Montana seminar participants:
“The Worlds Apart seminar was a complete immersion experience. The usual class teaches facts about an event but leaves us short of understanding the impact decades later that the experience had on generations of people. I had read about the Holocaust and Native American experience but to understand both of them on an emotional and intellectual level is very powerful. This experience will allow me to teach with a much greater sensitivity and depth of understanding!”
“The most impactful experiences were by far the small group simple conversations that took place between participants and guests. The Holocaust and Native American experience must be seen and heard through individual lives. Seventy years, one hundred fifty years later you must hear in human voices the resonating impact that these events still have on millions of people.”
“I want to thank you for one of the most unique and truly amazing experiences I have been a part of as a teacher. You created in this seminar the opportunity for us to see the two events in a very real, human, personal way. This was an experience that I will remember forever and that has had a deep impact on me as a teacher and as a person.”
“Meeting Laurie, Kate and Kamiah along with the other guests at the seminar gave me a truly deep “I WANT TO THANK THE MEMORIAL LIBRARY FOR understanding in a very personal way of the loss ALLOWING ME TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS AMAZING created by these events. Genocide is often described SEMINAR. IT IS ONLY THROUGH THEIR INCREDIBLE in numerical terms, how many thousands or millions GENEROSITY THAT I WAS ABLE TO BE A PART OF died. Writers hope that the scope of the numbers THIS EVENT. I WANT THEM TO KNOW THAT THEY will impress on readers the destructive power of the HAVE TRULY CHANGED US AS TEACHERS IN A WAY events. Instead what changed for me was the THAT WILL NOT FADE.” – A PARTICIPANT IN THE understanding that genocide is not the murder of WORLDS APART BUT NOT STRANGERS SEMINAR IN millions but the brutal murder of one life repeated MONTANA over and over again millions of times. Each life, each face, each future stolen is an act of brutality.”
Long Island Satellite Seminar: Memory after the Holocaust: Lessons and Legacies Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center, Glen Cove, New York - July 20 to 24, 2015 Led by Traci Garrison-Feinberg, Meryl Menashe, and Michelle Sorise How do teachers address the issues of today’s world in ways that help them and their students make appropriate connections to the curriculum? The inaugural Long Island seminar focused on the lessons and legacies of the Holocaust and how they apply to students’ decision-making about social justice issues in their world today. Starting with the belief that every student has the potential to make a positive difference in their communities, the seminar was designed to extend each participant’s current knowledge of the Holocaust and to encourage new and innovative ways to teach this history. Activities included writing, lesson plan development, survivor and 2nd generation testimony, and time in the HMTC museum galleries to explore the history of the Holocaust, before, during and after the war. Participants were introduced to a variety of literary and film resources and left with a variety of teaching materials and strategies, many aligned to common core standards.
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Speakers and Highlights:
. Conversation with Joshua Green, producer of Memory After Belsen . Exploring the Holocaust through Art, presentation by Janet Lust Ganes, art educator, and Fanny Lust, survivor (Janet’s mother and inspiration for some of her art) . Exhibits at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center . Observation of second-generation Surrogate Survivor training session at Temple Judea with Holocaust survivor and author Irving Roth . Introduction to film Paper Clips and One Clip curriculum . Riva Minsky Sender, Holocaust survivor
Selected comments from Long Island seminar participants:
“Riva Minksy Sender’s testimony was very interesting. She brings forth the concept of never give up. Her message is one of we must get along with everyone. She touched me in a personal way. Bringing a survivor’s point of view is something that is just great for children. The Art and the Holocaust session with Janet Ganes and Fanny Lust was very well done. Creating art from a survivor testimony is very strong. It allows children to look at a picture and makes them see different things when you tell them to look again.”
“The 2G Training is an example of actions that prepares us for a world without Holocaust survivors and helps answer the question how stories of the Holocaust will be told in the future.”
“This has been an incredible week of learning and growth. As a whole unit, the information presented was both interesting and stimulating. The sessions that included hands-on activities helped to make the seminar enjoyable as well as practical.”
LONG ISLAND SEMINAR PARTICIPANTS AND FACULTY IN THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL AND TOLERANCE CENTER CHILDREN’S MEMORIAL GARDEN, GLEN COVE, NEW YORK.
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New Mexico Satellite Seminar: Teaching the Holocaust for Social Justice Manzano High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico - June 15 to 19, 2015 Led by Leslie Lawner and Susan Quintana Teaching the Holocaust for Social Justice helps teachers in New Mexico develop meaningful ways to teach the Holocaust and other events involving intolerance and persecution. Background on the Holocaust is provided through lectures from specialists, opportunities to examine the exhibits and materials at the New Mexico Holocaust and Intolerance Museum, and exemplary lessons presented by the seminar leaders. The group also heard from a Holocaust survivor. Lessons will address the need to meet common core requirements at the middle and high school level. The seminar also included a lecture, museum visit, and dinner at the Pueblo Indian Cultural Center which focused on the history of Indian schools and related questions of social justice.
Speakers and Highlights:
. Elana Haviv, Educator, presentation on her “Telling History Story Box” project . Survivor testimony from Herb Beenhouwer . Presentation of Echoes and Reflections curriculum by Sherry Bard of the Anti-Defamation League . Socratic Seminar on Simon Wiesenthal’s The Sunflower led by local educator and past seminar participant Michelle Thompson-Lloyd . Lecture on the history of anti-Semitism by Rabbi Paul Citrin . Visit to the Hispanic Cultural Center and lecture on the history of Crypto-Jews by Linda Lopez McAlister, Camino Real Productions . Visit to the Holocaust and Intolerance Museum and presentation on Yiddish language and culture by Harvey Buchalter
Selected comments from New Mexico seminar participants:
“Powerful, enjoyable, inspiring, memorable.”
“Freewrites, timelines, identity, identity box. . . Socratic seminar, giving my students time to reflect, maps, collaborating with other teachers, vocabulary in Echoes—everything was helpful.”
“It was outstanding and far surpassed my expectations.”
“Great! Tons of information . . .overwhelming in a good way.”
“Better than I could ever imagine.”
“The amount of content, networking, ideas (practicing those ideas) has been incredible!”
“The program far exceeded my expectations, since most in-person programs on the Holocaust are only brief overviews without going into the depth covered in your program.”
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WRITING AND REFLECTION ARE PART OF AN INTERACTIVE LESSON BASED ON SIMON WIESENTHAL’S THE SUNFLOWER DURING THE TEACHING THE HOLOCAUST FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE SEMINAR IN NEW MEXICO.
North Carolina Summer Seminar for Holocaust Educators Cardinal Gibbons High School, Raleigh, North Carolina – June 23 to 27, 2015 Led by Mark DeLaRosa, Katy King, and Karen Klaich The North Carolina Holocaust Institute introduces the foundations of the Holocaust and Judaism to teachers from public, private, and parochial schools. The special focus of this seminar includes the historical context of racial prejudice in North Carolina as participants travel to the International Civil Rights Museum and the site of the F.W. Woolworth building in Greensboro. By continuing to examine the state’s history, participants in the seminar explore how to create effective lessons on the Holocaust using the Common Core and other standards required in specific school settings. Speakers and Highlights:
. Visit to the North Carolina Museum of Art . Visit to the International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro, NC . Lecture by Kenneth Begos, author of Against Their Will, on the U.S. eugenics program and its influence on Nazi policy . Presentation by Michael Abramson on the History of Judaism in NC . Testimony by Rebecca Hauser, Holocaust survivor . Musical presentation by the Magnolia Klezmer Band . Presentation by Lynda Moss, North Carolina Council on the Holocaust, on local resources for teachers, followed by visit to the Council’s traveling exhibits and available classroom activities . Talk by Father William McConville, O.F.M, on “Common Religious/Historical Dialogue” . Shabbat service and Oneg at Temple Beth Or
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Selected comments from North Carolina seminar participants:
“The seminar was beyond my expectations - I not only learned so much new information; I was also humbled and inspired by the knowledge and dedication of the participants.”
In response to the question “As you think back on this seminar, what stands out for you?” participants answered as follows:
“The enthusiasm of the leaders and participants”
“The knowledge gained and the resources given were fantastic, but it was the loving, non-judgmental acceptance that gave me hope! Emotionally strong” HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR “The writing and sharing; the discussions about our experiences” REBECCA HAUSER AND HER DAUGHTER BONNIE SPOKE WITH THE GROUP. “The speakers were amazing. I really liked the variety of speakers and topics.”
“People - from teachers to speakers, meeting people has changed my heart.”
“The variety of information, viewpoints, and resources that were presented, addressing issues of racism, human rights, and the Holocaust”
VISITING THE NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ART.
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Ohio Satellite Seminar: Pathways to Justice The Summit Country Day School, Cincinnati, Ohio - July 20 to 25, 2015 Led by Sue Fletcher and Rosie Sansalone The focus of this seminar is to familiarize teachers with historically and pedagogically sound strategies for teaching the Holocaust and to demonstrate how Holocaust pedagogy can open up new ways of teaching about social justice pertaining to contemporary and local issues. Situated on the campus of The Summit Country Day School, the program is led by experienced teacher-facilitators who guide participants through a highly interactive seminar that includes hearing Holocaust survivor testimony and examining primary source documents. The seminar also offers access to proven instructional materials designed to encourage students to find connections between the Holocaust and civil rights issues.
SPEAKERS AND HIGHLIGHTS:
. Father Philip Seher, The Summit Country Day School Chaplain, on connections between the Holocaust and Social Justice via his personal story of growing up in postwar Europe . Presentation and musical performance on second-generation experience by Sylvia Samis, child of Holocaust survivors and member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra . Visit to the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education, with testimony from Werner Coppel, Holocaust survivor . Visit to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center with testimony from Dr. Herman Turner, veteran, educator, Olympic athlete, and Civil Rights activist . Caleb Paull on making meaning through creating digital stories in the classroom . Visit to the Islamic Center of Cincinnati . Shabbat service at Rockdale Synagogue following a presentation by Rabbi Meredith Kahan
SUE FLETCHER AND ROSIE SANSALONE WITH PARTICIPANTS AT THE PATHWAYS TO JUSTICE SEMINAR IN OHIO.
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Selected comments from Ohio seminar participants:
“The facilitators complimented each other perfectly. There were extremely knowledgeable and provided a safe learning environment.”
“I wish everyone, teachers, parents and community leaders could attend these tours and outings we experienced. . . Every experience was amazing.”
“Thank you, thank you. I was amazed at the opportunities to meet and spend time with other group members. It was nice to know them as people and hear their stories.”
In this section we would also like to share an excerpt from a poem composed by a participant in response to having attended the seminar:
Thank You
…I went out in the world this week To the past through stories shared But also into the community Which I did not realize was there
I took a risk this week I chose to look inside To learn about who I am I am striving not to hide
I learned so much this week About empathy and fear To be an upstanding participant Living fully while I am here
I made new friends this week A mosaic of humanity From all faiths and backgrounds Each gave a gift to me
●●●
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Texas Satellite Seminar: And then They Came for Me: What the Events of the Holocaust Can Teach Us about Our Lifetime Responsibility for Each Other Crownover Middle School, Denton, Texas – July 19 to 24, 2015 Led by Melissa Alexander and Carol Revelle
This seminar focused on instructional approaches that facilitate deep and thoughtful learning through instruction centered on the Holocaust and other social justice issues. Meeting at the Dallas Holocaust Museum on the first day to take a tour, hear testimony from a survivor, and explore available resources, participants went on to examine research-based instructional approaches that provide a safe and dynamic environment for students to engage in these difficult but engaging topics. Guest speakers helped the group to understand the cultural aspects of teaching tough topics and show how to help students “speak-up” and find a voice for social action. Each teacher left the institute with a self-created project- based-learning unit that can be used in her classroom. Culminating activities included a ride on the Grapevine Vintage Train to the Fort Worth Stockyards in order to remember those who were lost and to commit to modeling compassion, seeking justice, and demonstrating action.
WRITING AND REFLECTING IN FORT WORTH DURING THE SEMINAR IN TEXAS.
Speakers and Highlights:
. Visit to the Dallas Holocaust Museum with survivor testimony from Jack Repp . Workshop on spoken word poetry with educator and artist Joaquin Zihuatanejo . Modeling best practices through gallery walks, literature circles, and more . Presentations by Christal Bloomer and Vanessa Capaldo, past seminar participants . Field trip to historic sites in Fort Worth
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Selected comments from Texas seminar participants:
“Seminar was excellent - thank you!”
“I feel very empowered with many new tools and techniques.”
“[I feel] prepared; much more confident… I can now teach this topic with some authority.”
All of the participants who responded to an evaluation form said that they would recommend the seminar to a colleague.
IV. Mini-Grant Program
Begun in 2007 to sponsor action projects undertaken by teachers who have completed the summer seminars, the mini-grant program continues to flourish with close to $6K in support distributed in 2015. A full list of the grants funded follows below. Detailed descriptions of these and other programs supported by mini-grants can be found on the Memorial Library’s website. Diane Williams, Anser Charter School, Boise, Idaho $1,000.00 Bridges - Connecting the Past with the Present to Create Understanding
As Boise’s community continues to grow and shift, Diane Williams’s students felt inspired to promote the strength of Boise’s diversity. Having observed refugee teens being bullied, they knew that if they could promote understanding, they could prevent bullying. Working with partners including The Agency for New Americans, Boise Contemporary Theater, and the Boise Bridge Program, students created a program called “Story, Humanity, and Home.” Joining in with Boise’s campaign to become a City of Compassion, Anser junior high students and refugee students from Hillside Junior High worked together to act as cultural ambassadors responsible for educating and inspiring diversity in the Treasure Valley. They published illustrated poetry books distributed to area schools and created a performance piece on the themes of compassion, acceptance, and hope that was performed at the Boise Contemporary Theater.
STUDENTS IN DIANE WILLIAMS’S CLASS IN BOISE, IDAHO PERFORM “STORY, HUMANITY, AND HOME” AT THE BOISE CONTEMPORARY THEATER.
Page 23 Final Report 2015 Scott Lone, West Bend East High School, West Bend, Wisconsin $1,000.00 Trip to the Illinois Holocaust Memorial Museum and Education Center in Skokie
Students in Scott Lone’s U.S. History classes spend three weeks studying the Holocaust, looking at hard topics such as the origins of anti-Semitism, Nazi propaganda, life in the ghettos, the Final Solution, Jewish resistance, and the prevention of genocide. In the past, the unit has culminated with students completing a project related to Holocaust literature and the opportunity to meet with a local Holocaust survivor. This year, students had the chance to take a trip to the Illinois Holocaust Memorial Museum and Education Center in Skokie, Illinois, a first for their district. At the Museum, they toured the permanent exhibits as well as special exhibits on postwar life in Skokie, which had the largest per capita population of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel. Following their tour, they were able to meet with Ida Paluch Kersz, a hidden child during the Holocaust who was separated from her twin brother but then reunited with him 50 years after the war. The event was highly meaningful for everyone who participated: on an evaluation form, 100% of the students recommended that plans be made to continue an annual visit to the Illinois Holocaust Memorial Museum and Education Center, while a number of parent chaperones sent emails sharing their gratitude.
STUDENTS IN SCOTT LONE’S U.S. HISTORY CLASSES IN WISCONSIN MEET WITH CHILD SURVIVOR IDA PALUCH KERSZ AT THE ILLINOIS HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM AND EDUCATION CENTER IN SKOKIE.
Zack Hull, Carson Middle School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania $900.00 Lecture and screening of “Nicky’s Family” at the Pittsburgh Jewish Film Festival
This year, an opportunity presented itself from the local Jewish history federation near teacher Zach Hull’s middle school in Pittsburgh. Along with students at several other area schools, the entire eighth grade was invited to a local Pittsburgh theater to listen to a lecture from a historian on the life of Sir Nicholas Winton, a famed rescuer of Jewish children. After learning about Sir Winton, students watched “Nicky’s Family,” a film produced about his life. Afterward, students participated in discussions with teachers and leaders in the “JFilm” program. This event formed part of a larger Holocaust and genocide unit.
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Here are some student responses to attending the lecture and film:
“Nicky’s Family was a great learning experience. It showed us that even in dark, trying times any small person can change circumstances for the better. I not only learned more about the situation in central Europe, but about the incredible strength and selflessness that it takes to make such a drastic change in the lives of hundreds. Now those hundreds have expanded to thousands. It is honestly one of the most inspiring and beautiful things to know that someone worked so diligently to help so many families and children that he didn’t even know. I am very happy that my school was able to go on this trip and I sincerely hope that future grades will be able to have the same great experience that I did.”
“The movie ‘Nicky’s Family’ inspired me to do more to help others in need. Look at what man, just one man with some good friends behind him, did, saving thousands of children that he had little to no relation to. Think of what I, just one person with a few good friends backing me up, could do to make a difference in the world. What if everyone, billions upon billions of people, could do if we worked together to make the world we live in a better place.”
“My initial reaction to this movie was something I am typically skeptical about experiencing - hope. For me, hope has always been something of an excuse, a way for people to think positively in a time of distress. I’ve never really believed in it. I’ve seen evidence of it, but I’ve turned away from any situation in which hope is said to be the answer. Seeing this movie not only opened my eyes, but it opened my mind as well. I felt hopeful for the Jews in the film being rescued. This movie was a wonderful experience for me. I was exposed to selflessness and bravery. I saw hope.”
Gail Desler, Elk Grove Unified School District, California $250.00 Promoting Digital and Global Citizenship p via the Digital ID PSA Contest
The Digital ID PSA Challenge is an annual online invitation for students around the world to step up to a global microphone and speak out on digital citizenship issues by creating a 90-second Public Service Announcement (PSA). Empowering students to take a stand against all forms of bullying, including cyberbullying, is at the heart of the Digital ID project. Mini-grant funding from the Memorial Library provided winning entries (3 elementary, 3 middle school, 3 high school + 1 special category) with a small prize recognizing their achievements. Grant recipient Gail Desler writes about the importance of teaching “digital and global citizenship”: “Across grade levels and subject areas, digital citizenship can act as a powerful catalyst for shared conversations about the Holocaust. Pulling from the Common Sense Media (commonsense.org) curriculum, my district, for instance, is introducing elementary students to the Power of Words, a lesson that teaches essential Holocaust vocabulary: perpetrator, target, bystander, and upstander – and includes an activity on “crossing the line.” By middle school, the Cyberbullying: Be Upstanding lesson builds on both the concepts and vocabulary of the elementary lesson, adding the introduction of empathy and “stepping up” strategies. At the high school level, with the Breaking Down Hate Speech lesson, students are challenged to envision “How can you create a community culture in which hate speech is unacceptable, both online and offline?” It is hard to imagine teaching a comprehensive digital citizenship program without incorporating a component of the Holocaust - or teaching about the Holocaust without applying the lessons of 60 years ago to our students’ current realities.”
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Erin DeHart, York College, York, Nebraska $1,000.00 Experiential Learning about the Holocaust and WWII
Erin DeHart’s mini-grant project helped York College students take an experiential course about the Holocaust. Students completed some course work while in Nebraska and then traveled to New York City and Washington, D.C. to further explore themes and ideas pertaining to the Holocaust and social justice. A highlight of this experience was an afternoon at the Memorial Library, where students were able to hear from Dori Katz, Professor Emerita at Trinity College and author of many books, including, most recently, Looking for Strangers: the True Story of My Hidden Wartime Childhood, which recounts her experience as a hidden child in Belgium. The trip also included visits to the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the Museum of Tolerance, Ellis Island, the Tenement Museum, and Shabbat services at B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue in New York as well as to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Arlington Cemetery in Washington. Throughout, students used exploratory writing and journaling to process and create meaningful dialogue to apply the events of the Holocaust to their personal lives.
ERIN DEHART AND STUDENTS IN HER EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING CLASS AT YORK COLLEGE, NEBRASKA HEAR FROM SURVIVOR AND AUTHOR DORI KATZ ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE AS A HIDDEN CHILD IN BELGIUM.
After returning home to Nebraska, one of the students wrote the following about the class and the trip:
“Now that I have been exposed to the Holocaust by means of reading books depicting life at concentration camps, exploring museums dedicated the time period, and hearing life accounts by survivors I can say that my perspective on the life I live is forever changed. Almost every time I met survivors and heard their stories or read books written by them, I was blown away by their lack of bitterness and anger. For the most part they were all so joyful and thankful that they had been given more years to live. . . Love really is the most important thing that we can have in our lives. When the victims of the Holocaust were stripped away from all of their physical wealth, their love for other people could not be taken. His love for his wife helped
Page 26 The Memorial Library/ The Olga Lengyel Institute [survivor and author] Viktor Frankl survive though he did not know if she were alive or dead. But that is the wonderful thing about love; it can stretch across dimensions between the living and the dead. It is of no matter the distance between two people or the state of their physical being because love can still exist. It does not need permission from the receiver for love to be given. Love is our only hope in combating evil. Through my experience learning more about the Holocaust in this class, my heart has grown to be more accepting of those around me. . . If the Holocaust has taught me anything, it is to love others as often and as deeply as I can because there is nothing greater and more beautiful than that. It is also my duty to pass on the stories told by those who witnessed the Holocaust to the generations after me.”
Lori Menning, New London High School, New London, Wisconsin $1,000.00 Holocaust Inquiry Project: “Our Journey”
Lori Menning’s New London High School Bilingual Seniors approached her to express their wish to create a culminating a Holocaust Inquiry Project to expand their knowledge and share it with current students before they graduated. Having begun their journey into learning about the Holocaust with Mrs. Menning in 2011 – one which included an Adopt-a-Survivor and Holocaust Inquiry Studies Project – they are the final class of bilingual students to have participated in these inquiry projects. The intended outcome of this program was for these senior student leaders to collaborate to teach others with the goal of increasing the awareness of the Holocaust. Their extensive, months-long program included a visit with Holocaust survivor Henry Golde at New London High School; a trip to the Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie, Illinois to tour the exhibits and hear from another survivor; and an opportunity to compile a book entitled “Our Journey,” so that students could share their passion for continuing to teach about the Holocaust as they make connections to the present.
Nicolas Darlinton, Sage Valley Middle School, Idaho $1,000.00 Understanding Human Rights with Free? Stories Celebrating Human Rights In the Vallivue District’s 8th grade English Language Arts curriculum, students are to explore and consider social justice issues. Their work entails reading and writing about justice issues in a variety of venues: reading historical fiction, interviews, primary documents and memoir about the Holocaust, nonfiction and primary documents about slavery in America, and futuristic dystopia, as well as writing about these issues in a variety of scenarios. In my classes, students start the year by discussing and examining the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These rights then become a framework for discussing literature throughout the entire year. With this project, Nicolas Darlinton purchased copies of Free? Stories Celebrating Human Rights along with other books that served as mentor texts that guided students in their work to create and share their own stories that contemplate human rights, slavery and the Holocaust. With the class set of books, all 8th grade students were able to read and discuss Free? at the same time.
STUDENTS IN NICHOLAS DARLINTON’S CLASS IN SAGE VALLEY, IDAHO, PARTICIPATE IN AN IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THE HOLOCAUST AND HUMAN RIGHTS.
Page 27 Final Report 2015 V. Professional Development / Conferences
To showcase the work of teachers who have attended the seminar in New York City, the Memorial Library held two panels at national conferences in 2015:
At the Annual Meeting of the National Writing Project (NWP) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from November 18-19, teachers from the Memorial Library presented a panel chaired by Sondra Perl and Jennifer Lemberg, “Opportunities and Challenges in Holocaust Education.” In this session, Corey Harbaugh (MI) and Enithie Hunter (GA) shared their ideas for teaching about the Holocaust and other genocides with an emphasis on writing and inquiry. Corey and Enithie offered insights and lessons from their schools and communities to consider how the principles of place-based education can play a meaningful role in teaching about genocide, and to explore what happens when students are located at the center of instruction that takes on difficult histories.
On the evening following the panel, the Library hosted a reunion dinner for approximately twenty teachers from within our network who were in Minneapolis to present at either NWP or the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Convention. The dinner provided an opportunity for teachers to reconnect, catch up on their activities over the past year, and strengthen our network.
The next day, Jennifer Lemberg chaired a panel at the NCTE Convention. Entitled “Why Teach the Holocaust? An Inquiry of Purpose and Hope,” and featuring presentations by Sue Fletcher (OH), Carol Revelle (TX), and Corey Harbaugh, this highly interactive session presented effective methods for engaging students through creative inquiry-based projects that address the challenges to teaching about the Holocaust. More than eighty people attended the panel.
SUE FLETCHER, CAROL REVELLE, AND COREY HARBAUGH PRESENTED THEIR WORK AT A PANEL ENTITLED “WHY TEACH THE HOLOCAUST? AN INQUIRY OF PURPOSE AND HOPE” AT THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH (NCTE) CONVENTION IN MINNEAPOLIS.
Page 28 The Memorial Library/ The Olga Lengyel Institute VI. Assessment Survey
In 2015, the Memorial Library received the results of a comprehensive survey undertaken in the fall of 2014, when the Library hired an independent research firm to design and conduct a programmatic assessment of every seminar held over the past nine years. The survey was sent to 553 potential respondents who had attended the Memorial Library Summer Seminar in New York City or one of the satellite seminars. The findings were overwhelmingly positive, with an exceptional overall response rate of 42% from program participants who were contacted via a series of emails. The research was conducted by NuVoodoo Media and analyzed by Joel S. Lind of Personal Media Research, both from Cincinnati, OH. Full assessment results are available on file at the Memorial Library. METHODOLOGY
. All educators from the program’s 2006 inception to the present (except those for whom the Library had no currently valid email address) were invited to take the survey via a series of emails, amounting to 553 potential respondents. . The survey was conducted online during a three-week period in November 2014. . Respondents were assured of confidentiality and total anonymity. . We received 228 completed surveys, demonstrating an exceptional overall 42% response rate, including a two-thirds majority of all NYC Summer Seminar attendees. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: HIGHLIGHTS
. The teachers come to the program from the full range of school levels, and from a balanced proportion of urban/suburban/rural communities. A great many come from schools populated heavily by poor students, and minority populations tend to be high in a majority of the schools. The overwhelming majority of schools have no or very few Jewish students.
. During the 2014-15 school year, program participants will have spent 25,000 teacher hours, teaching more than 2,000 courses, and 43,000 students on the Holocaust. These figures will increase dramatically every year.
. At the time of the survey, cumulatively, since the beginning of the program, participants have taught 6,500 courses and at least 137,000 students about the Holocaust and other genocides.
. Participant impact beyond the classroom is also considerable, including extra projects with 31,000 students and 17,000 community members; work with other teachers in in-service programs has reached an additional 14,000 teachers.
. The program scores consistently high A’s for training teachers on the main topic areas it covers: Identity and Dehumanization, Survivor Testimony, the History of Anti-Semitism, the Role of Propaganda, Jewish Life Before, During and After the Holocaust, and Connections to Social Justice.
Page 29 Final Report 2015 . Even though half of this sample had taken courses and received prior training in Holocaust/Genocide education, most of those educators considered their knowledge and understanding of the subject to be only in the high B-range, and their knowledge of Judaism and Jewish culture below the B-range. They, and those without prior training, almost universally give themselves A’s and A-minuses today.
. The program draws excellent marks, overwhelmingly A-range, for every topic, criterion, or quality on which respondents were asked to grade it.
. Whenever the survey asked respondents to compare the Memorial Library program to other professional development programs they had attended, respondents overwhelmingly called it ‘better,’ and a majority called it ‘far better.’
. Nearly all respondents, 99% of the sample, say they would recommend the Memorial Library program to a colleague, with many commenting on the quality of the instruction and faculty, the integration of subject matter, and, not least, the profound effect on them and on their teaching which will last throughout their careers.
You lit a fire and you tend that fire with some of the most important professional relationships of my life. I often use the phrase "sitting at Olga's table" when I think of my place at the library, and the library's place in my personal and professional life. I sat with friends at Olga's table, and I learned and experienced really important things there. It fed me and feeds me still. The impact of looking into Irving's face and then Gisa's as they shared their testimony will never be over for me. I left Olga's table a changed teacher and changed as a human. I am grateful.
As I review my notes from the seminar, I come across this quote: Pedagogy is “the activity of teaching; of teaching hope; of teaching life; of teaching humanness; of teaching vigilance; of teaching expression; of teaching the fullness of person; of teaching acceptance and love; of teaching strong stuff; of locating ourselves.” No other professional experience has prompted me to reflect in such a way, which, in turn, has brought immeasurable value to my practice [as a Holocaust educator].
--Selected responses from the Memorial Library Assessment Survey
Page 30 The Memorial Library/ The Olga Lengyel Institute VII. International Programs
In 2015, the Memorial Library was again able to offer programs abroad. This year, in addition to the seminar in Romania, we were also pleased to launch a program in Bulgaria. Programming in 2016 will also include a seminar in Austria. Details about that seminar as well as all other international programs are available on the Library’s website. The Holocaust in Romania: Between History and Perception Lugoj and Surduc, July 19 to 23, 2015 Led by Oana Nestian Sandu
The activities of the Memorial Library and the Olga Lengyel Institute, in partnership with “Elie Wiesel” National Institute for the Study of Holocaust in Romania and Percept Ministries Association in Romania, started with seminars on Holocaust education for school superintendents. The seminars offered learning opportunities about teaching methods, curricular and extra-curricular activities and provided participants with the opportunity to share their views and needs regarding teaching about the Holocaust.
In 2015 the seminar welcomed 36 researchers, teachers and doctoral candidates from across Romania. The aim of the seminar was to contribute to increasing the quality of education and research regarding the Holocaust and social justice in Romania. The program provided a rich opportunity to integrate national and international approaches in teaching and researching about these topics and in understanding the contemporary relevance of this important part of modern history.
The objectives of the program were to:
. Develop a rational understanding of the history of the Holocaust; . Develop teachers’ understanding of the impact of stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination at individual, group and society level; . Promote positive values for life in a diverse world, such as: tolerance, interculturalism, dialogue and appreciation of the other; . Develop teachers’ and researchers’ understanding of the Jewish life before and after the Holocaust; . Learn about the use of primary sources in researching the history of the Holocaust.
The seminar offered lectures and workshops exploring an extensive list of topics, among them anti- Semitism, Romanian Jewish life, the memory of the Holocaust in the post-Communist era, the use of primary sources in learning about the Holocaust, and Holocaust denial. Educators met Holocaust survivors, saw Holocaust-related films and documentaries, and toured the synagogue in Lugoj.
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Selected comments from Romania seminar participants:
“Congratulations to the organizers! I would be happy to participate in other events like this in the future.”
“Thank you again. I hope we will collaborate in the future. Congratulations for your work. It was a special seminar with high quality speakers.”
“I was very impressed to see that there is a high quality scientific community focused on the Holocaust, which combines the study of the archives with oral history. The critical approach associated with combining various sources will allow the discovery of new aspects that are unclear now. Thank you!”
“I liked the clarity and the usefulness of the information. I had the honor to discover specialists in the field, to improve my knowledge and to have a holistic perspective on the topic.”
“I hope you will continue to accept applications from young researchers. Currently the history of the Holocaust is very little present both at school and university level. It is extremely important that students and graduate students get better information from the beginning.”
PARTICIPANTS, SPEAKERS, AND A VISIT TO THE SYNAGOGUE IN LUGOJ AT THE SUMMER SEMINAR IN ROMANIA.
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Learning from the Past – Acting for the Future: Teaching about Holocaust and Social Justice Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, July 26 to 30, 2015 Led by Oana Nestian Sandu
This project is developed by The Memorial Library and The Olga Lengyel Institute in partnership with the Bulgarian Ministry of Education, American University in Bulgaria and Israel-Bulgaria Institute. The aim of the project is to contribute to increasing the quality of education regarding the Holocaust and social justice in Bulgaria. The program provides a rich opportunity to integrate national and international approaches in teaching about these topics and in understanding the contemporary relevance of this important part of modern history. The objectives of the program are to:
. Develop teachers’ awareness of historical and current dialectical discussions concerning the Holocaust and other instances of social justice; . Develop teachers’ understanding of the impact of stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination at individual, group and society level; . Develop teachers’ understanding of the Jewish life before and after the Holocaust; . Increase appreciation for innovative, student-centered teaching methods, including extra- curricular activities and partnerships between school and other institutions and organizations . Promote a blended approach of Holocaust education and Human Rights education.
The methodology of the training is learner centered, based on the principles of experiential learning and a human rights-based approach in education. A group of 45 teachers from all over Bulgaria have the opportunity to learn from internationally renowned lecturers, to interact with survivors and to think creatively and collaboratively about how to teach the Holocaust and social justice. A variety of methods are used in order to stimulate the engagement of participants, their reflections and a high level of interaction: presentations, analysis, discussions, reflections, group work, videos, visits to authentic sites, guest speakers, survivors’ testimonies, etc. Selected comments from Bulgaria seminar participants:
“The day in Sofia was a great idea - visit of the synagogue, kosher dinner, getting to know Jewish traditions.”
“I am impressed by the organization, the lectures, and the other participants.”
“I want to thank the organizers for the seminar - the chance to meet wonderful lecturers and other teachers from all over Bulgaria.”
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Some examples of what participants rated most useful were:
“The new teaching techniques shown and the suggestion to teach about the Holocaust together with teaching about the human rights.”
“The good balance between information about the Holocaust and getting to know more about the Jewish traditions, the diverse lectors; the fact that everyone could participate in the seminar activities.”
PARTICIPATING IN THE SUMMER SEMINAR IN BULGARIA, WHICH INCLUDED LECTURES, MEETING WITH A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR, AND AN EXCURSION TO THE SYNAGOGUE IN SOFIA.
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VIII. Words of Appreciation
Sondra Perl, Jennifer Lemberg, Alice Braziller, Micha Franke, Oana Nestian Sandu, the teachers who participated in the 2015 Seminar along with the Satellite Seminar leaders and participants and international program participants would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Board of the Memorial Library and to The Olga Lengyel Institute for their ongoing support of this project. As the Holocaust Educators Network continues to grow, we are ever mindful of the shared vision that supports our work and the privilege it is to carry on the legacy left to us by Olga Lengyel. IX. Appendices
Appendices follow on subsequent pages of this report.
SHARING A MOMENT WITH HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR IRVING ROTH AT THE 2015 MEMORIAL LIBRARY SUMMER SEMINAR IN NEW YORK CITY.
Page 35 Final Report 2015 Appendix A – 2015 Memorial Library Summer Seminar Participant List
Name School State / Country
Christal Bloomer Metro Opportunity High School Texas
Vanessa Capaldo Nick Kerr Middle School Texas
Patrick Connelly Aquinas Institute New York
Merry Davin American Indian Magnet School Minnesota
Angela Gascho Academy of Our Lady of Peace California
Donna Hughes Saraland Middle School Alabama
Sally Ingram Saint Bernadette Maryland
Greg Kocourek Bloomington Junior High School Illinois
Jennifer Kohut Riverside University High School Wisconsin
Ashley Libben West Noble School Corporation Indiana
Jennifer McConnell St. Thomas High School Texas
Kathleen Molony Central Catholic High School Oregon
Jeffrey Parker Norman Howard School New York
Tricia Parker Sunnyslope High School Arizona
Stefani Pastor Seton-LaSalle High School Pennsylvania
Marianna Pataki Kispesti Károlyi Mihály Magyar-Spanyol Tannyelvű Budapest, Hungary Gimnázium
Cecilia Pattee Idaho State Department of Education Idaho
Oana University of Southern Indiana Indiana
Popescu-Sandu
Janette Robertson George Bush High School Texas
Robin Siczek Holy Trinity Catholic Middle School North Carolina
Michelle Sorise Great Neck South High School New York
Peter Strand Irving International School Montana
Péter Szabó Paksi Vak Bottyán Gimnázium Paks, Hungary
Reggie Wynn Ragsdale High School North Carolina
Page 36 The Memorial Library/ The Olga Lengyel Institute Appendix B – 2015 Memorial Library Summer Seminar Calendar of Activities
Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday June 20 June 21 June 22 June 23 Breakfast available at the Library 8:45 Meet in lobby of Museum of Breakfast available at beginning at 8:15 a.m. Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery the Library beginning at Place 8:15 a.m. 9am 9:00 - 9: 15 Creating our Space 9:00 - 12:30 Working with 9:00 - 12:00 History of Artifacts anti-semitism and "The 9:15 - 10:15 Poetry and the Longest Hatred" Holocaust
10:30 - 12:30 Creating identity boxes Lunch 12:30 - 1:15 Lunch at the Library 12:30 - 1:30 Lunch on your 12:00 - 1:00 Lunch at own/time in the bookstore the Library 1pm 1:15 - 2:30 Sharing identity 1:30 - 2:30 "How Was It 1:00 - 3:00 Irving Roth, boxes, cont'd Possible?" Lecture with Peter Holocaust survivor and Hayes, Dept. of History, author of Bondi's Northwestern University Brother 3pm Participants arrive - 2:30 - 4:00 "Where I'm From" 2:30 - 3:00 Garden of Stones 3:00 - 3:15 Break check in at Columbia Writing Activity with Liz Edelstein, Director of begins at 3pm Education, the Museum of Jewish Heritage 5:30 Meet Alice 4 - 5:30 Writing and Reflections 3:15 - 5:30 Wrap-up to museum 3:15 - 5:00 Irving Roth, Braziller in the lobby of visit cont'd Wallach Hall to travel 5:30 - 6:00 Preparing for our visit Jennifer Lemberg on Visiting together to the Library to the Museum Sites of Memory 5:00 - 6:00 Writing Time - Reflections on the Day Walk to World Trade Center Memorial Plaza (weather permitting) 6pm 6pm Reception at FREE EVENING - no activites Dinner in Chinatown at Joe's FREE EVENING - no Memorial Library, 58 planned. Shanghai, 9 Pell St. activites planned. East 79th St., #2F -Introductions & Overview of the Seminar -watch excerpts from Shoah foundation interview with Olga Lengyel
Page 37 Final Report 2015
Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday June 24 June 25 June 26 June 27 Breakfast available at the Free day / optional Breakfast available at the Library Breakfast available at the Library beginning at 8:15 walking tour led by Alice beginning at 8:15 a.m. Library beginning at 8:15 a.m. a.m. Braziller
9am 9:00 - 10:30 Micha Franke Optional Brooklyn walking 9:00 - 12:00 Engaging with Judaism 9:00 - 10:00 Curriculum on the Concentration tour: cross over the - workshop Groups Round 4 Camp System Brooklyn Bridge, visit Plymouth Church, take 10:15 - 12:30 Workshops 10:45 - 12:30 Sustained the subway to Coney with Leaders in the Field: silent reading and writing Island, eat lunch at Making Classroom Nathan’s, stroll the Connections Boardwalk, visit the Diane Williams, ANSER Aquarium, return to Park Charter School, ID, Seminar Slope for dinner at Alice's Alumnus and co-leader of the apartment. Memorial Library Satellite seminar in Idaho Lunch 12:30 - 1:30 Lunch at the 12:00 - 1:00 Lunch at the Library 12:30 - 1:15 Lunch at the Library Library 1pm 1:30 - 2:30 Curriculum 1:00 - 2:30 Remarks by Rabbi 1:15 - 4:00 Diane Williams, Groups Round 1 Deborah Hirsch, Temple Shaaray continued Tefila 2:45 - 3:45 Curriculum 4:00 - 4:15 Break Groups Round 2 2:30 - 2:45 Break 3pm 4:15 - 6:00 Sustained Writing 3:45 - 5:00 Writing and 3:00 - 4:00 Curriculum Groups time sharing in small groups Round 3
5:00 - 5:45 Steve Ausnit, 4:15 - 5:00 M.Berez presents member of the Board of Directors of the Memorial Library
6pm FREE EVENING - no 6:00 - 7:00 Shabbat services at FREE EVENING - no activities planned Temple Shaaray Tefila, 250 E. 79th activities planned St.
Shabbat dinner at the Library
Page 38 The Memorial Library/ The Olga Lengyel Institute
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday June 28 June 29 June 30 July 1 July 2 Special events day at the Breakfast available at the Breakfast available at Library Breakfast available at Library - late start Library beginning at 8:15 beginning at 8:15 a.m. Library beginning at 8:15 a.m. a.m. 9am 9:00 - 10:00 Curriculum 9:00 - 11:00 Echoes and 9:00 - 11:30 Pedagogy Check out by Groups Round 5 Reflections Presentation of Hope: Pat Carini, 11 am; Sondra Perl, and more please 10:15 - 1:00 Dr. Miriam 11:00 - 11:15 Break remember to Ezzani, UNT Department of 11:30 - 11:45 Break return your 11:00 - 12:30 Kevin Feinberg, Education, on Culturally 11:15 - 1:00 Workshops with room key, Facing History and Ourselves, Responsive Pedagogy Leaders in the Field: Making 11:45 - 1:00 Moving and safe on the theme of rescue: why Classroom Connections ahead, looking forward: travels! risk your lives for others? Corey Harbaugh, Gobles High mini-grants, satellites, School, MI, Seminar Alumnus online evaluations, and and co-leader of the Satellite staying in touch Seminar in Michigan Lunch 12:30 - 1:30 Brunch at the 1:00 - 1:45 Lunch at the 1:00 - 2:00 Lunch at the 1:00 - 2:00 Lunch at the Library Library Library Library 2pm 1:30 - 3:30 Screening of "Two 1:45 - 2:30 Sondra Perl 2:00 - 4:30 Workshops with 2:00 - 5:00 Who Dared: The Sharps' presents On Austrian Soil Leaders in the Field: Making Reading, writing, and War," with special guest Classroom Connections celebrating our voices: Artemis Joukowsky 2:30 - 3:00 Embodied Michelle Clark, High Tech High what we are taking away Knowing and the Holocaust School, CA, Seminar Alumnus 3:30 - 4:30 Discussion of film led by Kevin Feinberg 3:00 - 4:00 Sustained silent writing and revision groups 4:30 - 5:00 Reflective Writing time 4:00 Travel downtown
5:00 - 6:00 Break
6pm 6:00- 7:00 Reception at the 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Boat 5:00 - 7:00 10th Anniversary 5:30 - 6:00 Closing Library ride on "The Ventura" around Cocktail Party activity Lower Manhattan. 7:00 - 9:00 Klezmer Boarding begins at 6:00 at performance and discussion the North Cove Marina, Final dinner and World Financial Center farewells
Page 39 Final Report 2015 Appendix C – 2015 Romania Seminar Participants
Name Institution
1 Mihaela Gligor Researcher at the Romanian Academy Cluj
2 Geanina Turcanu History teacher at School no.1 Slobozia Conachi
3 Roxana Cercel History teacher, Bucharest
4 Dragos Curelea History teacher, Ph.D. student, Sibiu
Daniel Șipoș Graduate Student at the Faculty of History and Political Sciences, Oradea 5
Vasile Husar Graduate Student at the Faculty of History and Political Sciences, Oradea 6
Oana Mitu Graduate student, „Dunărea de Jos” University, Galati 7
Daniel Stejerean Director of the Holocaust Museum in Nord Transylvania, Simleul Silvaniei 8
9 Roxana Ghita Post-doc, West University Timisoara
10 Constantin Dinu History teacher, „Ioan Petruș”, Otopeni
11 Cristina Soangher History teacher School no. 85, Bucharest
Marilena Ene Graduate Student,Bucharest University 12
13 Ligia Istrate Ph.D, „Babeș-Bolyai” University, Sibiu
14 Maria Ghegu Graduate student, Bucharest University
Daniel Hrenciuc Teacher at Colegiul Tehnic Radauti 15
16 Cristina Maria Ciuperca Graduate student Faculty of Sociology, Bucharest
17 Lavinia Buda Ph.D student at Babeș -Bolyai University, Cluj
18 Florin Petrescu DirectorTeacher Training Institution Ilfov
Page 40 The Memorial Library/ The Olga Lengyel Institute
Cristina Tomuleț University lecturer, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj 19
20 Daniela Sara Popescu-Fuchs Graduate Student, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj
21 Eugenia Mihalcea Ph.D. student, Bucharest University
22 Radu Patrascu Graduate student, Faculty of Sociology, Bucharest
23 Ariadna Petri Research assistant at Open University in Israel
24 Marius Cazan Research assistant at Bucharest University
25 Florin Vladicescu Popentiu Professor at Oradea University
26 Marina Fabian Ph.D. student at Ion Creanga University, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Irene Teodor Graduate Student at Political Science Faculty, Bucharest 27
Ștefan Marius Deaconu President of the Association of History Students Oradea 28
29 Ella Stiniguță Graduate Student, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj
30 Camelia Pertrani Bucharest
31 Cristina Sandor Bucharest
Page 41 Final Report 2015 Appendix D – 2015 Romania Seminar Agenda
SUNDAY 09:00 – 10:00 Arrival of participants in Surduc/Lugoj
MONDAY 10:00 – 10:15 Gathering of participants 10:15 - 11:00 Opening of the 5th edition. Opening remarks by: Francisc Boldea, Mayor of the City of Lugoj Alexandru Florian, Director General of the National Institute for the Study of Holocaust in Romania “Elie Wiesel” (INSHR-EW) Gigel Dumitru Olariu, President of Precept Ministries Foundation Steve Ausnit, Vice-President of the Board of Directors of The Memorial Library 11:00 – 13:00 Getting to know each other session 13:00 – 14:00 Lunch 14:00 – 15:50 Interbelic anti-Semitism, Liviu Rotman 15:50 – 16:00 Break 16:00 – 16:50 Holocaust survivor Liviu Beris 16:50 – 17:00 Break 17:00 – 18:50 Life of the Jewish community in Romania. Historical and cultural context, Victor Neumann 19:00- Dinner
TUESDAY 08:00 – 09:00 Breakfast 09:00 – 11:50 New forms of denial in post-communist Eastern Europe, Michael Shafir 11:50 – 12:00 Break 12:00 – 13:00 The history of anti-Semitism in the U.S.A., Marjorie Stern 13:00 – 14:00 Lunch 14:00 – 15:50 Involvement of the secret services of the Antonescu regime in the Holocaust, Adrian Cioflanca 15:50 – 16:00 Break 16:00 – 16:50 Legislation regarding the Jews in Romania 1938-present day, Alexandru Florian 16:50 – 17:00 Break 17:00 – 19:00 Movie: Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) 19:00- Dinner
WEDNESDAY 08:00 – 09:00 Breakfast 09:00 – 10:50 Acculturation orientations in current society. Majority-minority relations, Oana Nestian Sandu 10:50 – 11:00 Break 11:00 – 12:00 Popricani Mass Grave, Elisabeth Ungureanu 12:00 – 13:30 Lunch 13:30 – 14:30 Current forms of discrimination, Aurora Martin
Page 42 The Memorial Library/ The Olga Lengyel Institute 14:30 – 14:40 Break 14:40 – 15:40 The Memory of the Holocaust in the post-communist era, Alexandru Climescu 15:40 – 16:00 Break 16:00 – 18:00 Religious persecutions in Romania in 1940-1944, Viorel Achim 19:00 – Dinner
THURSDAY 08:00 – 09:00 Breakfast 09:00 – 10:30 Holocaust in Romania, Radu Ioanid 10:30 – 10:50 Break 10:50 – 12:30 Holocaust in Romania - continued, Radu Ioanid 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch 13:30 – 14:30 Movie: Odessa 14:30 – 15:00 Travel to Lugoj 15:00 – 16:00 Visiting the Synagogue and the Baptist school in Lugoj 16:00 – 17.00 Inauguration of the Max Ausnit Memorial School 17.30 – Farewell dinner
Page 43 Final Report 2015 Appendix E – 2015 Bulgaria Seminar Participants
Name School and Town
1 Maria Pavlova Krazheva-Mesheva High school Patriarh Evtimii/ Plovdiv
2 Stoyanka Rangelova Ivan Vazov Language School Plovdiv
3 Mario Dimitrov Alexandrov Velisar Peev Vocational Gymnasium, Svoge
4 Boryana Georgieva Valcheva “Yane Sandanski” Science And Mathematics High School
5 Krasimira Angelova Aprilov National High School, Gabrovo
6 Boris Panayotov Slavov Bacho Kiro School,Letnitsa
7 Vaidin Misankov “St. st. Cyril and Methodius”, High school, Yakoruda
8 Tanya Kostadinova Trapova PMG “Yane Sandanski” High School, Gotse Delchev
9 Irina Ivanova Grancharova St.st.Cyril and Methodius High School,Yakoruda
10 Lyubomira Nestorova Pankovska General educational school St. Patriarch Evtimii, Plovdiv
11 Svetlana Georgieva Taleva High school Patriarh Evtimii/ Plovdiv
12 Tanya Zheleva Elenska Dobri Chintulov High School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Sliven
13 Mihaylov Hristo Lilov Krumovgrad Vasil Levski Secondary School
14 Vyara Boyanova Petrova Krumovgrad Vasil Levski Secondary School
15 Tatyana Ivanova Angelova-Krastovcheva “Hristo Botev” High School, Dupnitsa
16 Dimitrina Kirilova Zareva Hristo Botev” High School, Dupnitsa
17 Svetla Karayaneva Highschool of the Humanities "St.St. Cyril and Methodius", Plovdiv
18 Mariyana Petrova *ROMAIN ROLLAND* Foreign language school Stara Zagora
19 Branekova, Lyudmila Foreign language school - Lovech
20 Ventsislav Metodiev Chobanov ''Hristo Smirnenski High School '' Krumovgrad
21 Hristina Hristova Professional School of Veterinary Medicine “Prof. dr Dimitar Dimov” Lovech
22 Emilia Stamenova Tsvetkova- Nikolova “St.st. Cyril and Methodius”, Kyustendil
23 Krasimira Lazarova Milenkova-Sergieva PGT “N.J.Vaptsarov” Slivnitsa
24 Еli Yordanova Georgieva Kyustendil, Primary school “Ivan Vazov”
25 Boyanka Marinova Dimitrova Veliko Tarnovo; Regional Inspectorate of Education
Page 44 The Memorial Library/ The Olga Lengyel Institute
26 Veronika Kirilova Borova Kyustendil, VII OU ”Ilio Voivoda”
27 Tyana Georgieva Docheva Secondary school “Hristo Botev”; Kubrat
28 Violeta Petrova Georgieva University of Veliko Tarnovo „St. St. Cyril and Methodius”, European Information Center - Veliko Tarnovo
29 Yuliya Georgieva Chortleneva High School „Hristo Smirnenski”, municipality Chernoochene, region Kardzhali, Chernoochene village
30 Rumyana Ivanova Sotirova Sekondary School Dimcho Debelyanov – Plovdiv
31 Nadezhda Krumova Miteva Maths Secondary School ‘Geo Milev’ Pleven
32 Yuliya Timova Todorova Maths and Science High School
33 Rositsa Dimitrova “P. R. Slaveykov” Secondary School, Vidin
34 Milena Detelinova Georgieva Maths Secondary School ‘Geo Milev’ Pleven
35 Stancheva, Tanya Angelova Damyan Damyanov School of Humanities, Sliven
36 Tanya Asenova Kostadinova Vocational Technical HighSchool "Vasil Levski" – Vidin
37 Teodora Aleksandrova Shishkova PG “Gen. Vladimir Zaimov”, Sopot
38 Genovska Neli Lycee de langue française de Varna
39 Dragomir Plamenov Dachev SOU “Bacho Kiro” – Pavlikeni
40 Emil Ivanov Krustev 97 SOU/ 140 SOU –Sofia
41 Aneta Atanasova Tumbeva Vocational High School for Tourism and Catering “H. Stoychev” Razlog
42 Sonya Danchova Krancheva Secondary School “Bratya Kanazireri” Razlog
43 Neli Ivanova Dimova IEG Varna
44 Vesela Hristova Goethegymnasium, Burgas
Page 45 Final Report 2015
Appendix F – 2015 Bulgaria Seminar Agenda
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 9.00-10.30 Creating a Nazi and fascist Survivor Acculturation participatory propaganda and testimony – orientations in learning space: its impact on the Assia Raberman today’s society Presentation of Holocaust – program, lecture by Radu objectives, Ioanid participants 10.30-11.00 Coffee break Coffee break Coffee break Coffee break 11.00-12.30 Identity The Holocaust in Upstanders / Human rights Europe. The Bystanders based approach Stereotypes, European in education prejudices and historiography The Righteous discrimination and the national Pyramid of hate myths related to Pyramid of the Holocaust Alliance Arrival of – lecture by Radu participants Ioanid 12.30-1.30 Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch 1.30-3.00 The history of Departure to Jews in Bulgaria Teaching about anti-Semitism – Sofia during WWII – the Holocaust lecture by Diego Lecture by and social justice Lucci Michael Bar- – approaches Synagogue visit Zohar and methods 3.00-3.30 in Sofia Coffee break Coffee break 3.30-5.00 Lecture by Filip Jews in Bulgaria Dimitrov during WWII – Action plan Lecture by Visit to the Michael Bar- Chabad House Zohar cont. Evaluation 5.00-5.30 Wrap-up of the Kosher dinner Wrap-up of the day day 6.00-7.30 Guided tour of Distribution of 7.00 PM Blagoevgrad certificates & Opening 8.00- Dinner Departure to Dinner Farewell dinner reception Blagoevgrad
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